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THE role of the media in immortalising the soldiers giving supreme sacrifice at the Kargil front has been laudable. It has enhanced the prestige of the defence forces in the minds of the public in general considerably. It has also boosted the morale of the fighting forces immensely, as also of their kith and kin who have been deprived of their warrior sons, fathers, husbands and brothers.

The government has also attended to some of the long-standing demands of the soldiers and ex-soldiers regarding the improvement of their pension structure and grants-in-aid, though not that liberally as expected by them in this hour of crises.

The citizens in cities have come out equally enthusiastically to contribute liberally towards the welfare of the families who lost their bread-winners. This is all because of the vast TV coverage of the war-front and the solemn wreath-laying ceremonies and guards of honour given to the departed soldiers at their home stations.

This is all great. But let it not be used as an election plank by self-seeking and greedy politicians and then forgotten once the elections have been won. That will kill the spirit of valour with which the soldiers fought with utter disregard to their personal safety.

UN chief’s regret

UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, has expressed regret at the loss of life resulting from the shooting down of a Pakistani plane by the Indian Air Force (“UN, USA call for restraint”, August 12).

There were reportedly 16 persons on board Atlantique — Pakistan’s maritime reconnaissance aircraft — who were killed.

Mr Annan, while expressing regret, did not even slightly disapproved of the intrusion of the plane in Indian airspace.

I don’t think he has ever so forthrightly expressed regret at the loss of precious lives of innocent people in the massacres, perpetrated by Pakistan-trained terrorists in the most diabolical manner in Jammu and Kashmir. Are these too minor incidents to be taken notice of?

Lakhs of peace-loving Kashmiri Pandits have left their homes and property in the valley for fear of the ultras’ bullets. I don’t think Mr Annan has ever uttered even a single word of sympathy for these most afflicted victims of the Pakistan-supported campaign of terrorism in the valley.

BHAGWAN SINGH
Qadian

Industrialisation led to attritional warfare by massive armies in World War I. Mechanisation led to tank warfare in World War II. The information revolution today leads to a new threat — cyberwar. The side that dominates communications and intelligence will enjoy decisive advantage in future. Effective use of communications and intelligence can also reduce paunch and increase the punch of the military in a cost-effective manner.

The failure to understand and favourably exploit both by senior commanders in Kargil led to a bloody war and a costly victory. If we have learnt our lessons well we need to promote the intelligence man and communicator to his due place in military hierarchy. Today all key decisions and command appointments are shared by infantry and armoured Generals who surround themselves with staff officers from their respective regiments. This team obviously revolves around the “yes sir, yes sir three bags full syndrome”, making the General large than life and leading to a stagnation in military thinking and increased indulgence in mundane and self-promoting exploits. They conspire to keep their dominance over other arms even by creating an environment in which brilliant officers are either superseded or forced to quit.

The qualifications of high technology appointments and foreign postings have been diluted to accommodate officers of these particular arms. This has directly resulted in the current slowdown of the modernisation process. The top hierarchy, starting from brigade commanders upwards, must, therefore, have a fair mix of all arms for us to have a successful army in the 21st century. The role of infantry commanders in the Kargil conflict prior to and during the conflict must be examined by an independent team, which should study their intelligence and IQ for ability to command and analyse intelligence and communication intercepts fed to them.

While we salute the infantry soldiers and junior leaders we cannot let the reigns of the Army be in the hands of mediocre officers with a narrow and partisan outlook. The Army of tomorrow needs a dynamic, intelligent and qualified leadership at the top. There is also need for cross-posting between all arms and services to ensure better understanding of problems of man management, communications and logistics.

Invariably communications and logistics are never understood by the commanders, who in their younger days generally avoid these complex unfruitful appointments (supported by their regimental godfathers occupying senior posts) and only stick to the glamorous general staff appointments in their quest for higher command.

	M A I L B A G	Wednesday, August 18, 1999
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